Overview

• Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has relocated to a secure bunker and suspended electronic communications to reduce his exposure to assassination threats from Israel or the U.S.
• He secretly nominated three senior clerics as potential successors, instructing the Assembly of Experts to fast-track their appointment and notably excluding his son, Mojtaba.
• Following Israeli strikes that killed several top IRGC commanders, Khamenei appointed replacements down the military chain of command to prevent a power vacuum.
• President Trump ordered U.S. airstrikes on three major Iranian nuclear sites, marking the first direct American military engagement in the Israel-Iran conflict.
• Iran reports over 865 dead and 3,396 injured, and has resumed daily missile and drone counterattacks against Israeli targets.